Hill, 25, suffered the injury during a Jan. 3 loss to the Denver Nuggets on an awkward fall under the basket. After initially being tabbed as out indefinitely, news came on Friday that he will need surgery that will cause him to miss at roughly six months of action.

The news couldn’t come at a worse time for Los Angeles, who lost their sixth straight game the same evening. Hill was a primary source of energy off the bench, and his absence means that the team will now rely on untested players like Earl Clark and Robert Sacre to help dig the team out of the 15-21 hole they’re in as they fight to remain in the playoff picture.

In 29 games this season, Hill has started once and averaged 6.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game. He’s averaged 2.8 offensive rebounds per game and plays with outstanding energy.

As the Lakers are forced to move on without Hill, they’ll square off against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday in an effort to snap their longest losing streak of the season.

Michael C. Jones is the managing editor and founder of Sports Out West and a Southern California-based sports journalist. His credits include Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report, among many others. You can catch up with him on Twitter: @MikeJonesTweets.